The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method of harvesting power from an overhead power transmission conductor and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method of harvesting power for charging batteries of a robot traversing the overhead transmission conductor.
Robots, such as the one shown in FIG. 1, have been developed to provide inspections of overhead transmission lines. These inspections may be performed by the robots while moving along a shield wire. In the case of autonomous robots, the robots, generally, are powered by internal batteries which need to be charged regularly. Several options have been proposed for charging these batteries. For example, solar panels on the robots to collect energy from the sun, using currents flowing in the shield wire to charge the batteries (this can be implemented with the robot touching a structure when the shield wire is isolated), and attaching the robots to charging stations that are powered by 110V/220V or solar panels or shield wire induction.
All of these options have their own challenges, and often it has been found that using a charging station provides the best method for charging the batteries. However, the challenge with using charging stations is that the robot can only charge itself at the station themselves, i.e., predetermined locations. As a result, the robot is left searching for a charging station or users are required to put charging stations at a large number of locations. Neither of which is ideal.